Lacing-hook.



F. A. HERRIGK.

meme HOOK. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.9,1907. v 904,479. I Patented Nov. 17, 1908..

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FRANK A. HERRIOK, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO KARL A. FLIOKINGER, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

LAGING-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed September 9, 1907. Serial No. 391,869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. HERRIOK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Lacing-Hook; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates particularly to the class of hooks adapted for use on shoes for engaging the lacing strings thereof, and is especially designed with reference to the needs of ladies shoes.

The objection raised to the use of the common form of lacing hooks is that owing to the protruding nature of such hooks the lower portion of skirts and dresses are caught thereby and torn. In order to avoid this objection it has been customary in the manufacture of ladies shoes to continue the lacing eyelets to the top of the uppers, thereby rendering the locing of these shoes very tedious, especially where shoes having high tops are worn.

The object of my invention is the provision of a hook of this class, which is provided with simple and efiicient means for guarding the end thereof against being caught by skirts, dresses or the like when a shoe-lace is in engagement therewith, said means being so arranged and operated as not to interfere in the least with the engaging or disengaging of a lace from the hook during the lacing or unlacing operation.

The operation, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention are fully described in the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan View of the lacing hook of my invention with the pivotal tongue removed and the tongue-engaging trunnions spread apart. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the hook as it appears in use. Fig.

' 3 is a similar view of the tongue member.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are side elevations of the hook and tongue member as shown, respectively in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 7 is a cross section of the hook eyelet taken on the line y y in Fig. 4:. Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the tail-piece of the tongue taken on the line w 00 in Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a bottom.view of the tongue-member, and Fig. 10 is a perspective View of a shoe'provided with my improved hook.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the hook proper of my invention, which rises from one side of and overhangs the usual eyelet part 2 by means of which it is secured to the shoe or other article to which it is to be attached. These parts in their general formation resemble the construction of hook and eyelet customarily used on mens shoes, except that the terminal of the hook is forked, as at 3, and the ends of the furcations formed with inwardly projecting spurs 1, best shown in Fig. 1, which spurs form trunnions for pivotally supporting a tongue This tongue is provided in its sides with eyes 6 for receiving the spurs 4:, and extending rearwardly therefrom is a tail-piece 7, which is made heavier than the forward or tongue portion 5 so as to overbalance such tongue portion and normally retain it in elevated or open position relative to the hook 1 with the tail-piece in position to obstruct the entrance to the hook, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5. As a lacing string is drawn under the hook 1 it comes in contact with the tail-piece 7 at the mouth of the hook opening, thus throwing the tail-piece up and holding it against the roof of the hook, which is concaved for such purpose, as shown, and eifecting a consequent lowering of the tongue5 until its end comes in contact with the leather or other material to which the hook is secured, whereby to completely close the entrance to the hook. If desired the end of the hook may be concaved to form the slightly pointed side terminals 8 to insure a close fit between the tongue end and securing material when the tongue is in closed position.

A simple method of securing the tongue to the hook end is to split such end, as at 9, to enable the spurs 4; to be expanded suflicient for the tongue to be inserted therebetween after which the furcations 3 are compressed to force the spurs into the eyes 6 of the tongue.

While the hook and tongue portions may be formed in any suitable manner, they are preferably, for the purpose of cheapness and simplicity of manufacture, stamped from sheet metal. In the forming of the tongue member I have shown the part 5 thereof as comprising a single thickness of.

metal, while the tail-piece 7 is composed of two or three ply metal formed by providing the tail piece with lateral extensions or wings 10 which are folded over upon themselves and the major tail. part to give the tail-piece the desired weight overthe tongue 5, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. By forming the tail-piece in this manner the extensions or wings 10 in addition to weighting such part also combine at their forward or inner ends with the rear end of the tongue part 5 to form the eyes 6, as best shown in Fig. 9;

It is thus apparent that when a shoe is not laced up the tongue 5 normally hangs in open position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, with the tail-piece 7 obstructing the entrance to the hook, thus adapting all the tongues 5 of a shoe, when the latter is placed in position for lacing, to automatically adjust themselves to open position so that the shoe can be laced as easily and quickly as a shoe provided with the ordinary form of hook. As a lacing string is drawn within the hook it passes freely under the extended tongue and engages the tail-piece, forcing it up against the roof of the hook and holding it in such position until the string has been released from the hook. The forcing of the tail-piece against the roof of the hook causes tions will occur to persons skilled in the art;

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

In a lacing hook, the combination with a body portion of an integral hook which overlies said body portion, and a tongue pivoted intermediate its ends to the free end of the hook, the inner end of said tongue being weighted, said weighted end being adapted to lie against the under face of the hook when a lacing string is drawn into said hook, and the outer end of said tongue closing the entrance to the hook.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK A. HERRICK.

itnesses C. W. OWEN, CORNELL SOHREIBER. 

